It's difficult for many students to adjust to a college environment after having spent their lives living at home. Separation anxiety, concerns about being far away from family or fear of the unknown are adjustment issues that cause some new college kids to turn to drugs. Drugs can relieve them from the pressures or fear associated with their newfound independence -- at least momentarily.
College is a social environment, and most students want to make friends and fit in with certain social groups. The desire for fitting in often leads individuals to participating in drug-related activities out of peer pressure. Peer pressure is the stress that people feel based on what others think they should do to be accepted. If everyone in the social group is using drugs, a college kid may also feel pressured into abusing the substances, too.
If a student has a challenging time coping with the academic stress that he is experiencing from college, drug abuse can become the end result. The inability to cope with the pressures of being in college causes some kids to use drugs in order to feel calm, get some sleep or stay awake longer. Escaping academic pressure makes college students feel better, so they continue to use substances in order to achieve that sense of false relief.
Children who grow up in households where parents are addicted to substances have a high chance of developing drug addictions themselves. For many kids, this addiction can develop in college because it is a time of exploration and independence. Their drug of choice may be parallel to the types of drugs they witnessed their parents or guardians doing at home, such as smoking marijuana or using painkillers.
Drugs are more accessible in college than they are in high school, so for many students, they are just now realizing that the underground drug world exists. Between the dorm parties, fraternity and sorority bashes, homecoming and every other celebration hosted on college campuses, students can access drugs from the people they party with -- or their friends who have friends who have drugs.